Garcia Overtakes Goosen For French Victory

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Sergio Garcia made up five shots over his final four holes of the day to win the Trophee Lancome by a single stroke over defending champion Retief Goosen.

Spurred by three late birdies over those final four holes, Garcia carded a day-low 65 to end at 18-under-par 266, one lower than Goosen (67), who fell apart down the stretch with consecutive bogies over the last two holes of the round.

It was an amazing day, said Garcia after his come-from-behind dramatics. I hit great shot after great shot, great shot after great putt.

Indeed he did, and his win on Sunday marked his third of the year, having already taken the MasterCard Colonial and Buick Classic in America earlier in the season.

The outcome seemed anything but reality in the late stretches of the day, however.

Click Here to See Sergio Garcia's Scorecard.

Click Here to See Retief Goosen's Scorecard.

Fresh off a bogey at the par-4 14th ' which saw him drop to four off the pace ' Garcia looked to have no chance of catching playing partner Goosen, and after his drive on No. 15 found the thick left rough, his chances appeared even more grim.

However, a fine approach to 15 feet set up a legitimate birdie opportunity, and Garcia took full advantage of the situation, pouring the ball into the back of the cup to cut the deficit to three.

Then, the Spaniard put his approach third to 20 feet at the par-5 16th, from which he sank another birdie putt, while a Goosen-par saw the deficit decrease to just two with two holes left.

With the crowd starting to murmur, Garcia hit another fine iron shot to 15 feet at the par-4 17th, while Goosen was not able to reach the green with his second following a severely sprayed his tee shot.

Garcia stepped up to his putt and sank it with a huge fist pump, and then watched as Goosen missed a par-save from five feet.

The two-shot swing now saw the score tied at minus-18, and the trend would continue into the closing par-3 18th.

Garcia smashed a beautiful 7-iron to 15 feet at the 209-yard hole, while Goosen struggled again with his tee shot, missing the green to the left this time, and plugging his ball into a bunker.

After Goosen blasted out 18 feet past the pin, and then lipped out for par, Garcia needed only two putts for the outright victory.

He did so, tapping in from a foot for his first victory on the European Tour since 1999.

That putt on 15 got me going, said a smiling Garcia, and then to hit a great shot on the 18th, that was perfect.

Retief played wonderful, but I came back really strong at the end.

For his efforts, Garcia collected nearly 240,000 euro, which was good enough to move him to 15th on the Order of Merit. Goosen still leads the list, thanks largely to his victory at the U.S. Open in June.

For Garcia, the youngster has been a mainstay in the United States in recent times and made clear his feelings about the tragedies which have affected the world in the last two weeks.

Id like to dedicate this tournament to all the people who lost their lives in America last week, he commented in reference to the deadly attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C.